PHILADELPHIA -- Asked if he is a patient person by nature, Philadelphia Eagles rookie cornerback Sidney Jones fired his response right back to the reporter.

"No," he said.

Meeting face-to-face with the Philly media on the first day of rookie camp, it became evident that whatever patience he possesses has already been tested during the first leg of a long recovery from an Achilles rupture.

"It's very testing, especially today in the defensive meeting rooms after practice, just watching the film, it was kind of burning me inside not being able to play and everybody is being coached up and I'm not being coached up, and I just have to watch the other guys do their stuff," he said. "It's hard but it's a process."

The Eagles were strongly considering taking Jones at 14 overall in the NFL draft before he suffered the injury during Washington's pro day in March. They decided to roll the dice and select him 43rd overall. Their research suggested the odds of a full recovery were good and that Jones possessed the type of drive needed to fight his way back. The Eagles' medical staff performed an MRI on the Achilles this week. Head coach Doug Pederson said they are "happy with where he's at."

"But at the same time," Pederson added, "we're not going to put any kind of timetable on him. We're going to do right by him and make sure he's 100 percent before we stick him out there on the field."

Jones told ESPN's Matt Bowen back in April that he would be back on the field in six months, his agent adding that he will be "ready to play by the end of October at the latest." Jones has adopted a more conservative tone -- matching that of the team brass -- since draft night.

With the timetable for return open-ended, the focus is on the benchmarks along the way. The next big date is May 21, when the walking boot is scheduled to come off. Rehab is expected to intensify at that point, bringing him closer to a goal that still feels pretty far out of reach.

"It's very frustrating. But you just take the mental reps and get better in that way, control what you can control and everything will just fall in place," he said. "When I get back out there, it's going to be special."